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Public: Recent News

John Wester, right, accepts gavel from Charles Becton.

John Robbins Wester of Charlotte will serve as the 115th president of the North Carolina Bar Association in 2009-10. He was installed on Saturday, June 27, at the 111th Annual Meeting of the NCBA at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville.

Judge J. Dickson Phillips Jr. of the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (retired) administered the oath of office.

“I am deeply honored that the members of the North Carolina Bar Association have entrusted me with this opportunity for leadership,” Wester said. “I will strive to uphold the great traditions of this association and the profession it serves in the days ahead.”

Wester grew up in Rockingham and graduated from UNC as a Morehead Scholar. He received his law degree with high honors from the Duke University School of Law, where he was an editor of the law review and inducted into the Order of the Coif.

Judge Phillips delivers oath of office to John Wester as his wife, Cam, and children look on.

Wester has since called Charlotte home, devoting his entire career to Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, where he concentrates in the trial and appeals of business disputes, securities regulation, corporate governance and employment cases. He has served the NCBA as a member of its Board of Governors and as chair of the Audit and Finance, Appellate Rules and Nominations committees.

Wester is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the American Bar Foundation.

“Instead of reinventing a wheel that has rolled smooth and straight for many years, our goal will be to reach farther and wider with important programs that are now in place and touch hundreds – I hope thousands – of North Carolinians who need the guidance and counsel that only lawyers can provide,” Wester said.

“We will continue to provide steadfast support to initiatives such as the North Carolina Lawyers for Entrepreneurs Assistance Project (NC LEAP) serving low-income entrepreneurs, Law-Related Education, serving the teachers and students of this state, our Law Office Management program serving small firms and solo practitioners, and our fledgling Judicial Performance Evaluation program that will enhance the performance and increase the accountability of North Carolina Superior Court and District Court judges.”

Additionally, Wester noted, the NCBA will maintain its support of injustice initiatives and expanded funding for Legal Aid of North Carolina and other legal services providers.

“We will also maintain our voice in the General Assembly,” Wester added, “in support of the Citizens Salary Commission, adequate funding for the courts, fair compensation for our judges and the advancement of merit selection and judicial appointment measures.”

In legal circles, Wester was lead defense counsel before the U.S. Supreme Court in Ford Motor Co. v. EEOC, the decision in which the Supreme Court established its precedent for cutting off employer liability in employment discrimination cases.

His name is permanently affixed to Hyatt v. Shalala, the landmark class action suit against the Social Security Administration on behalf of thousands of disabled citizens whose benefits had been denied or terminated. Wester and his firm, in partnership with Legal Services of Southern Piedmont, took the case through the federal courts for 20 years, including two reviews by the U.S. Supreme Court and five opinions by the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Approximately 150,000 North Carolinians won new disability hearings under new standards as a result of this litigation.

Wester’s service as lead counsel was provided pro bono, earning his firm recognition from the NCBA and the American Bar Association as recipient of their first Pro Bono Publico service awards.

Wester was also tapped as lead counsel when Gov. James Martin and his cabinet were sued in a federal court class action challenging the constitutionality of employment practices in state government. The opinions in that case articulated the right of the governor and his cabinet to utilize policymaking positions to change the direction of state government.

Wester’s community involvement includes board service for Legal Services of Southern Piedmont, the Mecklenburg County Bar and the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center. He has also served as chairman of the Arts & Science Council of Charlotte-Mecklenburg and ArtsTeach, Inc., and on the Boards of Visitors of UNC and the Duke Law School.

Wester is married to the former Cam Lucas.  He has a son McNeill, a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UNC Law School, now an investment banker in Charlotte; a son Forest, a graduate of Dartmouth College and the Harvard Business School, now a private equity banker in Miami; a daughter Jane, a student at Charlotte Latin; and a stepson Lucas, a recent graduate of the University of Georgia.